How Fear and Covid-19 Tore Apart One New Delhi Neighborhood – The New York Times

Produced by Lauren Leatherby, Craig Allen, Josh Holder, Allison McCann, Jeffrey Furticella and Andrew Rodriguez.

How fear, neglect and Covid-19 tore apart a single New Delhi neighborhood.

Asha lit up the neighborhood. The 54-year-old woman, who insisted people call her by one name, took care of neighbors when they got sick. She planted trees up and down the block. She was friendly with just about everybody at the local market.

When Covid-19 swept through Ms. Ashas New Delhi suburb, Nangli Vihar, the death toll didnt set any records. The neighborhood is not the poorest, the worst-hit or the most crowded in the city. It could have been any street in New Delhi.

But as the virus ricocheted from house to house, it did more than kill. With hospitals full and the government largely absent, fear began to spread. People shut their doors, shattering many of the relationships that make up a neighborhood.

Now New Delhi is starting to reopen after suffering one of the worlds deadliest outbreaks. We spent a week with the residents of a few close-knit blocks in Nangli Vihar as they begin to emerge from fear and isolation and often after tremendous loss.

Neeraj Kumar lost

his father on May 14.

Ms. Asha lived

on this street.

Birat Devi died

almost a week after

getting vaccinated.

People lined up outside a clinic,

complaining of fever and

Covid-like symptoms.

Someone died here

recently. Neighbors

suspect Covid.

Ajay Pal Singh and his family got Covid

in April after his wife returned from

a visit to a Hindu holy site.

Desperate for an income,

Shanno keeps her shop open

but faces stigma.

On this corner alone, more

than a dozen shops were

shuttered during the lockdown.

Mukesh Diwakar, a blacksmith, has

been out of work for almost two months.

His family sometimes goes hungry.

Ms. Asha lived

on this street.

Neeraj Kumar lost

his father on May 14.

Birat Devi died

almost a week after

getting vaccinated.

People lined up outside a

clinic, complaining of fever

and Covid-like symptoms.

Someone died here

recently. Neighbors

suspect Covid.

Ajay Pal Singh and his family got Covid

in April after his wife returned from

a visit to a Hindu holy site.

Desperate for an income,

Shanno keeps her shop open

but faces stigma.

On this corner alone, more

than a dozen shops were

shuttered during the lockdown.

Mukesh Diwakar, a blacksmith, has

been out of work for almost two months.

His family sometimes goes hungry.

Neeraj Kumar lost

his father on May 14.

Ms. Asha lived

on this street.

Birat Devi died

almost a week after

getting vaccinated.

People lined up outside a

clinic, complaining of fever

and Covid-like symptoms.

Someone died here

recently. Neighbors

suspect Covid.

Ajay Pal Singh and his family got Covid

in April after his wife returned from

a visit to a Hindu holy site.

Desperate for an income,

Shanno keeps her shop open

but faces stigma.

On this corner alone, more than

a dozen shops were shuttered

during the lockdown.

Mukesh Diwakar, a blacksmith, has

been out of work for almost two months.

His family sometimes goes hungry.

Neeraj Kumar lost

his father on May 14.

Ms. Asha lived

on this street.

Birat Devi died

almost a week

after getting

vaccinated.

People lined up outside

a clinic with fever and

Covid-like symptoms.

Someone died here

recently. Neighbors

suspect Covid.

This family got Covid

in April after a

visit to a holy site.

Mukesh Diwakar has

been out of work for

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How Fear and Covid-19 Tore Apart One New Delhi Neighborhood - The New York Times